Chapter 4

"Keep it down, Helen. Your husband's right in the next room. You want him to find out you're cheating on him?" My entire body went rigid. "Don't scream. You want people to know a man climbed into a living widow's bed?" Last night's words overlapped with Nicholas's voice in my mind. Trembling, I sank my teeth into his lip hard enough to draw blood. As he hissed in pain, I shoved him away and darted aside. It was him! The man from last night was him! Rage burned through me, white-hot and vicious. I wanted to tear him apart. "You!" My vision swam red, fury choking me. I nearly lunged to kick him where it would hurt most. His eyes narrowed—whether in admission or something else, I couldn’t tell. I was about to charge at him when voices echoed from the hallway: "Young Madam? Mister? Is everything all right?" A servant had arrived with the family doctor for Ethan’s routine checkup. My breath hitched. I ducked my head and fled downstairs to my room, not daring to meet their eyes. No one could know I’d been violated. Even if I had to drag Nicholas down with me, it wouldn’t be here—not in the Carter household, not in front of my husband. Ethan’s kindness had given me a sense of belonging. I couldn’t bear for him to see me like this. I needed proof. Yes, proof! Nicholas lived in the north courtyard, while I stayed in the main house. He must have sneaked in last night. The Carter estate had surveillance—if I could just get my hands on the footage, I’d have evidence! I bolted for the door, ready to interrogate the guards at the gatehouse. Then I froze. Guests were downstairs. My mother-in-law had explicitly forbidden me from showing my face. As I hesitated, she spotted me. Her sharp gaze snapped up, piercing through me like an accusation: Didn’t I tell you to stay put and spare us the shame? I had no choice but to retreat, sealing myself back inside. I never expected the guests to stay the entire morning, leaving me as frantic as an ant on a hot griddle. By noon, when they finally finished their meal and left, I rushed downstairs immediately. "What's the hurry?!" My mother-in-law snapped, stopping me in my tracks. "You're always so reckless—no sense of composure at all. What, are you racing to your next life?" I had no choice but to halt. "Mom, I just need to go out and buy something." That pervert had finished inside me last night, and I sure as hell wasn’t about to get pregnant. "Every single day, it's always something with you," she scoffed. "Can’t you just stay put and take care of Ethan properly?" "Enough," my father-in-law, Alexander Carter—the wealthiest man in Seavale—intervened. "She’s just running an errand. No need to be so harsh." Unlike my mother-in-law, he wasn’t openly disdainful toward me, though he wasn’t exactly warm either. "Go ahead, but make it quick." Grateful, I nodded and hurried out. My first stop was the pharmacy, where I bought the pill and swallowed it right then and there. Holding the empty packaging, I hesitated—should I toss it or take it back with me? Ugh! What the hell was I thinking? Why bring it back? Did I actually want that creep to violate me again?! Frustrated, I threw the packaging away and rushed back to security to request the surveillance footage. I was certain that once I had the recording, I’d have undeniable proof that Nicholas was the one who attacked me last night. But when I copied the footage and played it on my laptop, my heart sank—there was nothing! No way. Panic set in. How could the cameras have missed everything? The bedroom key was only in my possession and the housekeeper’s. I’d locked the door before going to bed, so the intruder must have come through the window. My bedroom window faced the balcony—he must have climbed in from there. But then… why wasn’t there any trace of him in the footage? Unless…!